Ephesians 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: SUFFICIENT GRACE - November 17, 2023

Picture if you will, a blank check. The amount of the check: sufficient grace. The signer of the check: Jesus. The only blank line is for the payee. That part is for you.

May I urge you to spend a few moments with your Savior, receiving this check? Reflect on the work of God’s grace. The nails that once held a Savior to the cross. His sacrifice was for you. Express your thanks for his grace. Whether for the first time or the thousandth, let him hear you whisper, “Forgive us our debts.” And let him answer your prayer as you imagine writing your name on the check. No more deposits are necessary. So completed was the payment that Jesus used a banking term to proclaim your salvation. “It is finished!” Perhaps I best slip out now and leave the two of you to talk.

Ephesians 1

I, Paul, am under God’s plan as an apostle, a special agent of Christ Jesus, writing to you faithful believers in Ephesus. I greet you with the grace and peace poured into our lives by God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ.

The God of Glory

3–6  How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

7–10  Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

11–12  It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

13–14  It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

15–19  That’s why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn’t stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!

20–23  All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Friday, November 17, 2023

Today's Scripture

Ephesians 1:3–14

The God of Glory

3–6  How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

7–10  Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

11–12  It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

13–14  It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

Insight

Paul delivers Ephesians 1:3–14 in the form of a doxology—or praise—to God. Paul, a Jew, writes to gentile believers in Jesus, assuring them of their adoption (v. 5) into an unparalleled inheritance. When he says, “we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ” (v. 12), he’s speaking of the first believers, who were Jewish. Yet he’s quick to include “you,” that is, the gentiles, who also believed (v. 13). And he gives us great hope: we’re “marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” (vv. 13–14). By: Tim Gustafson

The Adventure

In him we were also chosen . . . that we . . . might be for the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:11–12

“Christianity is not for me. It’s boring. One of my values I hold on to is adventure. That’s life to me,” a young woman told me. It saddened me that she hadn’t yet learned the incredible joy and excitement that comes with following Jesus—an adventure like no other. I excitedly shared with her about Jesus and how real life is found in Him.

Mere words are inadequate to describe the adventure of knowing and walking with Jesus, God’s Son. But in Ephesians 1, the apostle Paul gives us a small but powerful glimpse of life with Him. God gives us spiritual blessings directly from heaven (v. 3), holiness and blamelessness in God’s eyes (v. 4), and adoption as His own into the King’s royal family (v. 5). He blesses us with the lavish gift of His forgiveness and grace (vv. 7–8), understanding of the mystery of His will (v. 9), and a new purpose of living “for the praise of his glory” (v. 12). The Holy Spirit comes to live in us to empower and lead us (v. 13), and He guarantees eternity in God’s presence forever (v. 14).

When Jesus Christ enters our life, we discover that getting to know Him more and following Him closely is the greatest of adventures. Seek Him now and every day for real life. By:  Anne Cetas

Reflect & Pray

How would you describe the life of knowing and walking with Jesus? Who might God want you to share this with?

Dear Jesus, thank You for loving me and always walking by my side. You’ve given me more than I could have imagined. I love being known and loved by You and sharing You with others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Friday, November 17, 2023

The Eternal Goal

By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing…I will bless you… —Genesis 22:16-17

Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God.

My goal is God Himself…

At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

“At any cost…by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.

There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me.

God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character.

’Tis because I am ordinary,

Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.

It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, “In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”

The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen…” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him. Approved Unto God, 10 R

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 5-7; Hebrews 12

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Friday, November 17, 2023

Whatever It Takes to Win Your Race - #9615

Honest, we really didn't mean to be in northern Kentucky on Kentucky Derby weekend. But obviously, thousands of people did! In trying to avoid flooding as we traveled, that's exactly where we managed to be. So there we were in the middle of rampant Derby Fever. I didn't bet on anybody, and I refuse to wear one of those floppy hats.

The restaurant where we had dinner made sure the TV was on so everyone could watch the world's most famous horse race. Boy, I'll tell you, it is impressive! High-stakes horsemanship, a drama-packed "run for the roses" - over in two minutes. Yep!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Whatever It Takes to Win Your Race."

Now, actually that race is pretty amazing to watch. Those horses, like, explode with raw power and they've got this give-it-all intensity; they're driving with everything they've got to win their race.

So should I. So should you. Like the original thoroughbred Jesus-man, Paul. Yeah, he talks about it in our word for today from the Word of God in 2 Timothy 4. I'm going to begin reading in verse 6, with Paul's final words of his final letter before he made the final sacrifice for Jesus. He will soon die for his allegiance to Christ. Here's what he wrote: "I am already being poured out...I have finished the race" (2 Timothy 4:6-7). Hey, when you pour out what's in a pitcher, it's empty; there's nothing left. Paul says, "Man, I've got nothing left at the finish line. That's the way I want it to be." It's just like his Master.

I've actually been thinking a lot lately about the fact that God calls our life in Him a race. Not a jog, but a race to the finish line. Are you running it with that kind of intensity, that kind of passion? See, the thing is, we don't know how much longer we have before we get to the finish line. That's why we've got to run with everything we've got. We're talking about thoroughbred intensity here, not just casual, go-to-church, business-as-usual Christianity. Even if I live to be 108, there are so few days to make the eternity difference I was put here to make. There are no days to waste, my friend, no opportunities we can afford to miss. There's no time to say "maybe later" to say that "I love you"...or to say the "thank you"...or to say the "here am I, Lord"...or maybe "let me tell you about Jesus."

I think it's time to make the prayer of Moses our prayer: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). I think that's saying, "Make every day count, man." That's what it means to live smart. He said that's wisdom. We've got to race to the finish line. Randy Alcorn said, "Thirty seconds after we die, we will know how we should have lived." Wow! It's a little late then. How about getting that figured out now instead of when it's too late?

Because my finish line...well, it's not a carpet of roses. My finish line is Jesus. And, you know, His "well done" - that's the only prize that matters.

Isaiah 10, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: IN DEBT - November 16, 2023

Debt. To be in debt is to owe someone something. If that’s true, isn’t it appropriate for us to speak of debt in our prayer, for aren’t we all in debt to God? Aren’t we in God’s debt when we disobey his commands? Rather than love our neighbor, we hurt our neighbor. Aren’t we in God’s debt when we disregard him? He makes the universe, and we applaud science.

Maybe if I wave at my neighbor or go to church next Sunday, I’ll get caught up. But how do you know when you’ve made enough? That’s the problem. You never can. Romans 4:5 says, “People cannot do any work that will make them right with God.” You’re going to spend the rest of your days huffing and puffing to get to the drive-through window before the bank account closes. Just do this: trust his grace. It is God who justifies your account.

Isaiah 10

You Who Legislate Evil

1–4  10 Doom to you who legislate evil,

who make laws that make victims—

Laws that make misery for the poor,

that rob my destitute people of dignity,

Exploiting defenseless widows,

taking advantage of homeless children.

What will you have to say on Judgment Day,

when Doomsday arrives out of the blue?

Who will you get to help you?

What good will your money do you?

A sorry sight you’ll be then, huddled with the prisoners,

or just some corpses stacked in the street.

Even after all this, God is still angry,

his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

Doom to Assyria!

5–11  “Doom to Assyria, weapon of my anger.

My wrath is a cudgel in his hands!

I send him against a godless nation,

against the people I’m angry with.

I command him to strip them clean, rob them blind,

and then push their faces in the mud and leave them.

But Assyria has another agenda;

he has something else in mind.

He’s out to destroy utterly,

to stamp out as many nations as he can.

Assyria says, ‘Aren’t my commanders all kings?

Can’t they do whatever they like?

Didn’t I destroy Calno as well as Carchemish?

Hamath as well as Arpad? Level Samaria as I did Damascus?

I’ve eliminated kingdoms full of gods

far more impressive than anything in Jerusalem and Samaria.

So what’s to keep me from destroying Jerusalem

in the same way I destroyed Samaria and all her god-idols?’ ”

12–13  When the Master has finished dealing with Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he’ll say, “Now it’s Assyria’s turn. I’ll punish the bragging arrogance of the king of Assyria, his high and mighty posturing, the way he goes around saying,

13–14  “ ‘I’ve done all this by myself.

I know more than anyone.

I’ve wiped out the boundaries of whole countries.

I’ve walked in and taken anything I wanted.

I charged in like a bull

and toppled their kings from their thrones.

I reached out my hand and took all that they treasured

as easily as a boy taking a bird’s eggs from a nest.

Like a farmer gathering eggs from the henhouse,

I gathered the world in my basket,

And no one so much as fluttered a wing

or squawked or even chirped.’ ”

15–19  Does an ax take over from the one who swings it?

Does a saw act more important than the sawyer?

As if a shovel did its shoveling by using a ditch digger!

As if a hammer used the carpenter to pound nails!

Therefore the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

will send a debilitating disease on his robust Assyrian fighters.

Under the canopy of God’s bright glory

a fierce fire will break out.

Israel’s Light will burst into a conflagration.

The Holy will explode into a firestorm,

And in one day burn to cinders

every last Assyrian thornbush.

God will destroy the splendid trees and lush gardens.

The Assyrian body and soul will waste away to nothing

like a disease-ridden invalid.

A child could count what’s left of the trees

on the fingers of his two hands.

20–23  And on that Day also, what’s left of Israel, the ragtag survivors of Jacob, will no longer be fascinated by abusive, battering Assyria. They’ll lean on God, The Holy—yes, truly. The ragtag remnant—what’s left of Jacob—will come back to the Strong God. Your people Israel were once like the sand on the seashore, but only a scattered few will return. Destruction is ordered, brimming over with righteousness. For the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will finish here what he started all over the globe.

24–27  Therefore the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, says: “My dear, dear people who live in Zion, don’t be terrorized by the Assyrians when they beat you with clubs and threaten you with rods like the Egyptians once did. In just a short time my anger against you will be spent and I’ll turn my destroying anger on them. I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will go after them with a cat-o’-nine-tails and finish them off decisively—as Gideon downed Midian at the rock Oreb, as Moses turned the tables on Egypt. On that day, Assyria will be pulled off your back, and the yoke of slavery lifted from your neck.”

27–32  Assyria’s on the move: up from Rimmon,

on to Aiath,

through Migron,

with a bivouac at Micmash.

They’ve crossed the pass,

set camp at Geba for the night.

Ramah trembles with fright.

Gibeah of Saul has run off.

Cry for help, daughter of Gallim!

Listen to her, Laishah!

Do something, Anathoth!

Madmenah takes to the hills.

The people of Gebim flee in panic.

The enemy’s soon at Nob—nearly there!

In sight of the city he shakes his fist

At the mount of dear daughter Zion,

the hill of Jerusalem.

33–34  But now watch this: The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

swings his ax and lops the branches,

Chops down the giant trees,

lays flat the towering forest-on-the-march.

His ax will make toothpicks of that forest,

that Lebanon-like army reduced to kindling.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Today's Scripture

Psalm 66:5–12, 16–20

Take a good look at God’s wonders—

they’ll take your breath away.

He converted sea to dry land;

travelers crossed the river on foot.

Now isn’t that cause for a song?

7  Ever sovereign in his high tower, he keeps

his eye on the godless nations.

Rebels don’t dare

raise a finger against him.

8–12  Bless our God, O peoples!

Give him a thunderous welcome!

Didn’t he set us on the road to life?

Didn’t he keep us out of the ditch?

He trained us first,

passed us like silver through refining fires,

Brought us into hardscrabble country,

pushed us to our very limit,

Road-tested us inside and out,

took us to hell and back;

Finally he brought us

to this well-watered place.

  All believers, come here and listen,

let me tell you what God did for me.

I called out to him with my mouth,

my tongue shaped the sounds of music.

If I had been cozy with evil,

the Lord would never have listened.

But he most surely did listen,

he came on the double when he heard my prayer.

Blessed be God: he didn’t turn a deaf ear,

he stayed with me, loyal in his love.

Insight

Psalm 66 is a worship song praising God for rescuing His people from an enemy threat. Though the specific circumstances aren’t mentioned, nor the author named, some scholars suggest that King Hezekiah wrote this thanksgiving song after God miraculously defeated the Assyrians in response to his prayer for deliverance (2 Chronicles 32:1–22; Isaiah 36–37). The offering of rams, bulls, and goats (Psalm 66:15) are what a king would sacrifice to God (see 2 Chronicles 30:24). The psalmist recalls the miraculous deliverances in their history—how God led them out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, through the wilderness, and into the promised land (Psalm 66:1–12). The second part of the song is a personal thanksgiving for God answering his prayers (vv. 13–20). The psalmist speaks of an important condition for answered prayer: “If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (v. 18 nlt). By: K. T. Sim

Tell of God’s Goodness

Let me tell you what he has done for me. Psalm 66:16

Testimony time was the segment in our church service when people shared how God had been at work in their lives. Auntie—or Sister Langford as she was known by others in our church family—was known for packing lots of praise into her testimonies. On the occasions when she shared her personal conversion story, one could expect her to take up a good bit of the service. Her heart gushed with praise to God who’d graciously changed her life!

Similarly, the testimony of the writer of Psalm 66 is packed with praise as he testifies about what God had done for His people. “Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!” (v. 5). His deeds included miraculous rescue (v. 6), preservation (v. 9), and testing and discipline that resulted in His people being brought to a better place (vv. 10–12). While there are God-experiences that we have in common with other believers in Jesus, there are also things unique to our individual journeys. Have there been times in your life when God has particularly made Himself known to you? Those are worth sharing with others who need to hear how He’s worked in your life. “Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me” (v. 16). By:  Arthur Jackson

Reflect & Pray

How can you more readily share your experiences of God’s goodness with others? How have you been inspired to trust Him more when you’ve heard others share His awesome deeds?

Heavenly Father, I rejoice in the varied expressions of Your kindness to me. Help me not to keep these things to myself.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Still Human!

…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31

In the Scriptures, the great miracle of the incarnation slips into the ordinary life of a child; the great miracle of the transfiguration fades into the demon-possessed valley below; the glory of the resurrection descends into a breakfast on the seashore. This is not an anticlimax, but a great revelation of God.

We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, “What a wonderful man of prayer he is!” or, “What a great woman of devotion she is!” If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.

We want to be able to say, “Oh, I have had a wonderful call from God!” But to do even the most humbling tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life “hidden with Christ in God” in our everyday human conditions (Colossians 3:3). Our human relationships are the very conditions in which the ideal life of God should be exhibited.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The Christian Church should not be a secret society of specialists, but a public manifestation of believers in Jesus.  Facing Reality, 34 R

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 3-4; Hebrews 11:20-40

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Thursday, November 16, 2023

When Sin Looks Safe - #9614

Three New York City boys broke into a zoo there, and one of them climbed into the polar bear area to swim in the moat. He was attacked by those bears. He was brutally killed. I was intrigued by an interview with the Park's Commissioner of New York City who said afterwards, "You know, bears are portrayed to children as friendly animals, even as cuddly animals. We've got Winnie the Pooh, Paddington Bear, and Smokey the Bear. But the Park's Commissioner went on to say, "Actually, they're carnivorous killers." He was right. I mean look, the image of bears is cuddly; the reality is deadly. And not just in bear country.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Sin Looks Safe."

Which leads us to our word for today from the Word of God which is found in James 1:15. It's a very revealing verse. "After desire has conceived" - okay, wait, I want to do this, I want to have this - "After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full grown gives birth to death." Now it's interesting this scenario ends in the death of a relationship or the death of self-respect, or even physical death, or the death of a reputation. It all starts out only as a desire - just an enticement. Sin looks so good. It looks like so much fun. It looks like it will meet a need for me; it will benefit me in some way. Like those polar bears. Looks cuddly, but it's a killer.

You see, in reality, there is nothing more beautiful than good, and nothing more ugly than evil. But our world and our imaginations tell us that the opposite is true, there is nothing more ugly than good, and nothing more beautiful than evil. So we flirt with what we should be fleeing from. Maybe you're playing right now in the bear cage of sin. And the wrong still looks cuddly and exciting, enticing. You're in a relationship you never should have gotten into.

Maybe you've fallen for the pressure to try some things that are wrong, but apparently they're not hurting you now, right? Or maybe it's all in your mind, playing with sin right now, fantasizing, considering. You're doing something you never thought you would do as God's child. Or maybe you're thinking about something you still think you'll never do, but remember it's inevitable. It starts as a desire, and desire becomes sin. You think it, you do it, and then you pay for it. That compromise seems to promise love, or attention, or excitement. But remember, God's equation is never wrong; it will always lead to dying. Sin will fascinate you but it will ultimately assassinate you.

A New York boy underestimated the danger of a bear, and he died as a result. Right now, you might be underestimating the danger of what seems to be a very desirable sin. And if you don't get out now while you can, it will turn on you and it will kill everything you care about.

If you want to know what sin really looks like, unwrapped in all of its ugliness, in all of its dyingness, you take a look at the cross and the mangled body of the Son of God hanging on that cross, nailed there, beaten beyond recognition. And you will see Jesus crying out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" That is the price of sin. But one He never meant for you to pay. He paid it himself. That's how much he loves you.

This is a day for you to be set free from the sin that can only carry a death penalty forever. "The wages of sin is death" the Bible says, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." I invite you today, to abandon the killer called sin at His cross, and allow Him to forgive you and set you free. If that's never happened for you, never made personal for you what He did on the cross, I'd love to help you do that. Would you go to our website? It's ANewStory.com.

It doesn't matter how warm and cuddly a sin may appear, it's a killer, not to be played with but abandoned, forgiven, and set free from.

Isaiah 9, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE ROOF OF GOD’S GRACE - November 15, 2023

“Insufficient funds” – what an ominous phrase! In the great gallery of famous phrases, “insufficient funds” hangs in the same hallway with “the IRS will audit your account,” “a root canal is necessary,” and “let’s stop dating and just be friends.”

You’re overdrawn. You gave more than you had to give. You spent more than you had to spend. And guess who has to cough up some cash? What do you do if you don’t have any money? What do you do if you have nothing to deposit but an honest apology and good intentions? You pray that some wealthy soul will make a huge deposit in your account.

If you’re talking about your financial debt, that’s not likely to happen. But if you’re talking about your spiritual debt, it already has. Your heavenly Father has covered your shortfall. In God’s house you’re covered by the roof of his grace!

Isaiah 9

A Child Has Been Born—for Us!

1  9 But there’ll be no darkness for those who were in trouble. Earlier he did bring the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali into disrepute, but the time is coming when he’ll make that whole area glorious—the road along the Sea, the country past the Jordan, international Galilee.

2–7  The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light.

For those who lived in a land of deep shadows—

light! sunbursts of light!

You repopulated the nation,

you expanded its joy.

Oh, they’re so glad in your presence!

Festival joy!

The joy of a great celebration,

sharing rich gifts and warm greetings.

The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants—

all their whips and cudgels and curses—

Is gone, done away with, a deliverance

as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian.

The boots of all those invading troops,

along with their shirts soaked with innocent blood,

Will be piled in a heap and burned,

a fire that will burn for days!

For a child has been born—for us!

the gift of a son—for us!

He’ll take over

the running of the world.

His names will be: Amazing Counselor,

Strong God,

Eternal Father,

Prince of Wholeness.

His ruling authority will grow,

and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.

He’ll rule from the historic David throne

over that promised kingdom.

He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing

and keep it going

With fair dealing and right living,

beginning now and lasting always.

The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies

will do all this.

God Answered Fire with Fire

8–10  The Master sent a message against Jacob.

It landed right on Israel’s doorstep.

All the people soon heard the message,

Ephraim and the citizens of Samaria.

But they were a proud and arrogant bunch.

They dismissed the message, saying,

“Things aren’t that bad.

We can handle anything that comes.

If our buildings are knocked down,

we’ll rebuild them bigger and finer.

If our forests are cut down,

we’ll replant them with finer trees.”

11–12  So God incited their adversaries against them,

stirred up their enemies to attack:

From the east, Arameans; from the west, Philistines.

They made hash of Israel.

But even after that, he was still angry,

his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

13–17  But the people paid no mind to him who hit them,

didn’t seek God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

So God hacked off Israel’s head and tail,

palm branch and reed, both on the same day.

The big-head elders were the head,

the lying prophets were the tail.

Those who were supposed to lead this people

led them down blind alleys,

And those who followed the leaders

ended up lost and confused.

That’s why the Master lost interest in the young men,

had no feeling for their orphans and widows.

All of them were godless and evil,

talking filth and folly.

And even after that, he was still angry,

his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

18–21  Their wicked lives raged like an out-of-control fire,

the kind that burns everything in its path—

Trees and bushes, weeds and grasses—

filling the skies with smoke.

God-of-the-Angel-Armies answered fire with fire,

set the whole country on fire,

Turned the people into consuming fires,

consuming one another in their lusts—

Appetites insatiable, stuffing and gorging

themselves left and right with people and things.

But still they starved. Not even their children

were safe from their rapacious hunger.

Manasseh ate Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,

and then the two ganged up against Judah.

And after that, he was still angry,

his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Today's Scripture

Luke 10:38–42

Mary and Martha

38–40  As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village. A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. But Martha was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. Later, she stepped in, interrupting them. “Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.”

41–42  The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”

Insight

Martha and her siblings often hosted Jesus in their home in Bethany. When we first meet Martha, she’s busy preparing a meal for Christ and His disciples and is upset that Mary isn’t helping (Luke 10:38–40). In John 11, we learn of Lazarus’ illness, death, and resurrection; and we see the sisters’ reactions. When Christ says to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live . . . . Do you believe this?” she replies, “Yes, . . . I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world” (vv. 25–27). The last time we see Martha, she’s again preparing a meal, but this time she doesn’t protest that Mary isn’t helping (12:1–2). Perhaps she’d learned the importance of the “one” thing (Luke 10:41–42)—listening to, learning from, and worshiping Jesus. 

By: Alyson Kieda

One Thing Needed

You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Luke 10:41–42

One weekend in March, I led a retreat on the theme of Mary and Martha, the sisters in Bethany whom Jesus loved along with their brother Lazarus (John 11:5). We were in a remote spot along the English coastline. When we were snowed in unexpectedly, many of the participants remarked how the extra day together meant they could practice sitting at Christ’s feet as Mary did. They wanted to pursue the “one thing . . . needed” (Luke 10:42 nkjv) that Jesus lovingly told Martha she should embrace, which was choosing to draw close and learn from Him.

When Jesus visited the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, Martha wouldn’t have known He was coming in advance, so we can understand how she could have been upset with Mary for not helping with the preparations to feed Him and His friends. But she lost sight of what really mattered—receiving from Jesus as she learned from Him. Christ wasn’t scolding her for wanting to serve Him but rather reminding her that she was missing the most important thing.

When interruptions make us irritable or we feel overwhelmed about the many things we want to accomplish, we can stop and remind ourselves what really matters in life. As we slow ourselves down, picturing ourselves sitting at the feet of Jesus, we can ask Him to fill us with His love and life. We can revel in being His beloved disciple.  By:  Amy Boucher Pye

Reflect & Pray

What distractions keep you from receiving from Jesus? How can you sit at His feet today?

Dear Jesus, thank You for loving to instruct me in Your ways. Help me not to get distracted by my activities, but to focus on You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

“What Is That to You?”

Peter…said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "…what is that to you? You follow Me." —John 21:21-22

One of the hardest lessons to learn comes from our stubborn refusal to refrain from interfering in other people’s lives. It takes a long time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence, that is, interfering with God’s plan for others. You see someone suffering and say, “He will not suffer, and I will make sure that he doesn’t.” You put your hand right in front of God’s permissive will to stop it, and then God says, “What is that to you?” Is there stagnation in your spiritual life? Don’t allow it to continue, but get into God’s presence and find out the reason for it. You will possibly find it is because you have been interfering in the life of another— proposing things you had no right to propose, or advising when you had no right to advise. When you do have to give advice to another person, God will advise through you with the direct understanding of His Spirit. Your part is to maintain the right relationship with God so that His discernment can come through you continually for the purpose of blessing someone else.

Most of us live only within the level of consciousness— consciously serving and consciously devoted to God. This shows immaturity and the fact that we’re not yet living the real Christian life. Maturity is produced in the life of a child of God on the unconscious level, until we become so totally surrendered to God that we are not even aware of being used by Him. When we are consciously aware of being used as broken bread and poured-out wine, we have yet another level to reach— a level where all awareness of ourselves and of what God is doing through us is completely eliminated. A saint is never consciously a saint— a saint is consciously dependent on God.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

To those who have had no agony Jesus says, “I have nothing for you; stand on your own feet, square your own shoulders. I have come for the man who knows he has a bigger handful than he can cope with, who knows there are forces he cannot touch; I will do everything for him if he will let Me. Only let a man grant he needs it, and I will do it for him.”

The Shadow of an Agony

Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 1-2; Hebrews 11:1-19

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

How to Bring People Together - #9613

I had just finished speaking for a Christian leaders' gathering that was part of the countdown to a Franklin Graham Festival. The setup team there was in their early days of working together on this massive mobilization. The team leader thought it would be a good idea to get his team together for a few minutes after the meeting ended, and he invited me to join them. Then he handed me a cluster of helium balloons tied together. Suddenly, I felt like I'd gone from speaker to circus clown. And, you know, I've read Winnie the Pooh stories to our kids enough that I couldn't help but picture Pooh Bear being carried into the sky by a bunch of balloons like that.

Well, anyway, in spite of my trivial imagination, the team leader had a holy purpose actually for having me stand there with all those balloons. He asked his team members to spread out around the room. They ended up widely separated, and he asked them to get as close to me and my balloons as they could. Within moments, those workers, who had been so scattered, were shoulder-to-shoulder in a clump around me and my balloons.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Bring People Together."

That morning the team leader actually made a powerful point. He said, "You guys notice this, that the closer each of you got to Ron, the closer you got to each other?" He said, "The more we focus on Jesus and lift up His cross, the closer we will get to each other." (I love that.) We didn't have a cross in the room, and I think the balloons were a strange but available substitute for me to hold up, but the point was made.

And that point reaches to where you are right now in your family, your church, your ministry, your community. The closer each person on your team gets to Jesus and what He did on the cross for us, the closer those people are going to get to each other. It's focusing on lesser things; titles, personal agendas, hard feelings, little issues, politics, comparing with another person, the things we disagree on - that's what makes any group of people distant, divided and very easy for our enemy to defeat.

The 133rd Psalm says, "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity...for there the Lord bestows His blessing." There's a helpful picture of how the right focus can bring people together in our word for today from the Word of God in Acts 2, beginning with verse 42. It actually shows us the lifestyle of the original Christians; possibly the most powerful people in history. It says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Celebrating Jesus' death together in Communion, talking to Him together, learning about Him together - that's what they were doing. So it says, "So all the believers were together and had everything in common. They continued to meet together, and the Lord added to their number daily (This is extraordinary.) those who were being saved."

Imagine people coming to Christ every day! When was the last time you saw that? But then, when's the last time you saw God's people setting aside their differences and coming together consistently around Jesus and His cross?

If someone's depending on the same Savior for their eternity, if they've been to the same cross to be forgiven, isn't that enough to at least pray together, if nothing else? If you want, you can focus on the 90% that we agree on or you can focus on the 10% we disagree on. We can focus 90% of our energy on the 10% that makes "our group" or we can focus on our magnificent Savior and the magnet that is His cross.

When we realize that He has left us here to draw a world of lost people to that cross, we realize we can rescue far more people together than we ever could apart. Remember, Jesus said, "When I am lifted up...I will draw all men to Myself" (John 12:32). Jesus and His cross - they're the magnet that pulls His people together and pulls lost people to Him. Isn't it time we made that our focus instead of whatever has kept us in separate parts of the room? Because the closer we get to Jesus, the closer we get to His cross, the closer we're going to get to each other.

Acts 20:17-38, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: HARD TO SWALLOW - November 14, 2023

Every day God prepares for us a plate of experiences. Some days are “three cookie days.” Many are not. Sometimes our plate has nothing but vegetables, twenty-four hours of celery, carrots, and squash. Apparently God knows we need some strength, and though the portion may be hard to swallow, isn’t it for our own good? All are important, and all come from God. Romans 8:28 says, “We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love Him.”

So the next time your plate has a portion you find hard to swallow, talk to God about it. Jesus did. In the garden of Gethsemane his Father handed him a cup of suffering so sour, so vile, that Jesus handed it back to heaven. “My Father,” he prayed, “if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).

Acts 20:17-38

On to Jerusalem

17–21  From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the leaders of the congregation. When they arrived, he said, “You know that from day one of my arrival in Asia I was with you totally—laying my life on the line, serving the Master no matter what, putting up with no end of scheming by Jews who wanted to do me in. I didn’t skimp or trim in any way. Every truth and encouragement that could have made a difference to you, you got. I taught you out in public and I taught you in your homes, urging Jews and Greeks alike to a radical life-change before God and an equally radical trust in our Master Jesus.

22–24  “But there is another urgency before me now. I feel compelled to go to Jerusalem. I’m completely in the dark about what will happen when I get there. I do know that it won’t be any picnic, for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that there are hard times and imprisonment ahead. But that matters little. What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God.

25–27  “And so this is good-bye. You’re not going to see me again, nor I you, you whom I have gone among for so long proclaiming the news of God’s inaugurated kingdom. I’ve done my best for you, given you my all, held back nothing of God’s will for you.

28  “Now it’s up to you. Be on your toes—both for yourselves and your congregation of sheep. The Holy Spirit has put you in charge of these people—God’s people they are—to guard and protect them. God himself thought they were worth dying for.

29–31  “I know that as soon as I’m gone, vicious wolves are going to show up and rip into this flock, men from your very own ranks twisting words so as to seduce disciples into following them instead of Jesus. So stay awake and keep up your guard. Remember those three years I kept at it with you, never letting up, pouring my heart out with you, one after another.

32  “Now I’m turning you over to God, our marvelous God whose gracious Word can make you into what he wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need in this community of holy friends.

33–35  “I’ve never, as you so well know, had any taste for wealth or fashion. With these bare hands I took care of my own basic needs and those who worked with me. In everything I’ve done, I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them. You’ll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, ‘You’re far happier giving than getting.’ ”

36–38  Then Paul went down on his knees, all of them kneeling with him, and prayed. And then a river of tears. Much clinging to Paul, not wanting to let him go. They knew they would never see him again—he had told them quite plainly. The pain cut deep. Then, bravely, they walked him down to the ship.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Today's Scripture

Jeremiah 31:27–34

“Be ready. The time’s coming”—God’s Decree—“when I will plant people and animals in Israel and Judah, just as a farmer plants seed. And in the same way that earlier I relentlessly pulled up and tore down, took apart and demolished, so now I am sticking with them as they start over, building and planting.

29  “When that time comes you won’t hear the old proverb anymore,

Parents ate the green apples,

their children got the stomachache.

30  “No, each person will pay for his own sin. You eat green apples, you’re the one who gets sick.

31–32  “That’s right. The time is coming when I will make a brand-new covenant with Israel and Judah. It won’t be a repeat of the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant even though I did my part as their Master.” God’s Decree.

33–34  “This is the brand-new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. I will put my law within them—write it on their hearts!—and be their God. And they will be my people. They will no longer go around setting up schools to teach each other about God. They’ll know me firsthand, the dull and the bright, the smart and the slow. I’ll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I’ll forget they ever sinned!” God’s Decree.

Insight

In today’s passage (Jeremiah 31:27–34), Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, delivered a message from God to the Southern Kingdom of Judah concerning the new covenant that He would make with His people (ch. 31). It’s interesting to note that in both times of misfortune and fortune, God watches over believers in Jesus in the same way: “Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down . . . I will watch over them to build and to plant” (v. 28). Watch/watched is translated from the same Hebrew word (shaqad). It has the implication of keeping guard over something; to be on the lookout. By: J.R. Hudberg

Sins Remembered No More

I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. Jeremiah 31:34

I never saw the ice. But I felt it. The back end of the pickup I was driving—my grandfather’s—fishtailed. One swerve, two, three—and I was airborne, flying off a fifteen-foot embankment. I remember thinking, This would be awesome if I wasn’t going to die. A moment later, the truck crunched into the steep slope and rolled to the bottom. I crawled out of the crushed cab, unscathed.

The truck was utterly totaled that December morning in 1992. God had spared me. But what about my grandfather? What would he say? In fact, he never said a single word about the truck. Not one. There was no scolding, no repayment plan, nothing. Just forgiveness. And a grandfather’s smile that I was okay.

My grandfather’s grace reminds me of God’s grace in Jeremiah 31. There, despite their tremendous failings, God promises a restored relationship with His people, saying, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (v. 34).

I’m sure my grandfather never forgot that I’d wrecked his truck. But he acted just like God does here, not remembering it, not shaming me, not making me work to repay the debt I rightfully owed. Just as God says He’ll do, my grandfather chose to remember it no more, as if the destructive thing I’d done had never happened. By:  Adam Holz

Reflect & Pray

How should God’s forgiveness affect how you see your failures? How can you show others grace?

Father, thank You for Your forgiveness. When I cling to my shame, help me to recall that, in Christ, You remember my sins no more.

Learn more about the importance of offering forgiveness to others.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Discovering Divine Design

As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me… —Genesis 24:27

We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God. A child’s life is normally obedient, until he chooses disobedience. But as soon as he chooses to disobey, an inherent inner conflict is produced. On the spiritual level, inner conflict is the warning of the Spirit of God. When He warns us in this way, we must stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind to discern God’s will (see Romans 12:2). If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. “…the Lord led me…” and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design. If we are born of God we will see His guiding hand and give Him the credit.

We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the growth of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never believe that the so-called random events of life are anything less than God’s appointed order. Be ready to discover His divine designs anywhere and everywhere.

Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. If you are a saint and say, “I will never do this or that,” in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. There was never a more inconsistent being on this earth than our Lord, but He was never inconsistent with His Father. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern.  The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 673 L

Bible in a Year: Lamentations 3-5; Hebrews 10:19-39

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

When It Looks Like It's Over - #9611

Well, I'd been asked to speak at an adult couples thing at our church. And they did this auction sort of deal. It was sort of a "Let's Make a Deal game." I think some people call it a White Elephant Auction or something like that. It's the kind of game where you go to your garage and you get something you really want to throw away, and you wrap it up in real pretty paper and you bring it to the auction. And what happens is this: One person goes up and has to pick one of those packages, and they open it and then they have it. From that point on everyone can either take an unwrapped package and take their chances on that, or they can trade for something that's already been unwrapped that looks interesting.

Well, there was really only one valuable thing there that night. It was like this beautiful hand-carved lamp stand. And I'll tell you, these were adults, but they were acting like ten-year-old kids going crazy like, "Where's that lamp stand?" Ladies had it under their skirts; men took it to the Men's Room with them. I mean, it was nuts! Everybody was going bananas except for one guy. He sat there the whole time kind of just smiling wisely. And I thought, "Hey, wake up man. Get with the program! What's the deal here?" You know who he was? He was the guy who opened the first package. Yeah, he was the only one who remembered the rules of the game, which are that the person who opens the first one, since he didn't get to make a trade, he's going to make the last trade of the game. So, this guy's sitting there while everyone else is going crazy saying to himself, "I know how this is going to end!" You know what? That could be you.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When It Looks Like It's Over."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 30:5, and today is especially for someone who's got a heavy burden on their heart. Maybe there's a major disappointment recently, or a painful loss, or a deep hurt. This is for you. Psalm 30:5, "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."

God does not deny the pain or the tears. They're real. But compared to the joy coming, God says, they're brief. He's seen your tears. The Bible says He stores them up in a bottle; He's so involved in your grief. And He's also scheduled the morning celebration. Now, I know it feels like it's always going to be like this, but rejoicing will come in the morning. This is temporary. This, too, shall pass.

Lord Wellington won for Great Britain at the famous Battle of Waterloo. He defeated Napoleon, and he passed the word up the British coast by semaphore - by flags. And finally the word got to the Tower of London, where they posted the message up on the tower. Here's what it said, "Wellington defeated..." And then - it's London - a fog settled in, and for an hour no one could see anything else. They couldn't see the rest of the message, and I mean people were so depressed. "Wellington has lost!" And then the fog cleared, and they saw the rest of the message, "Wellington defeated the enemy."

You know, right now your feelings are sending you only half the news, and it feels like a defeat. It seems over, like it did for Mary and Martha when their brother Lazarus died and Jesus didn't do anything about it. Little did they know He was going to do something far greater than they ever dreamed. That which seems to have won right now will be defeated unless you despair and you walk away from the God who will finish this battle victoriously.

Right now it's night time and there still are tears, and you need to dig deep into His strength until the rest of the message comes clear. You can stay peaceful, you can stay poised while everybody else is going crazy, because you know that ultimately joy is coming, victory is coming. You can sit back and smile in the middle of great chaos and hurt and say, "I know how this is going to end!"

Isaiah 8, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE PLATE RUNS OVER - November 13, 2023

“Give us this day our daily bread.” What a statement of trust!

Some days the plate runs over. God keeps bringing out more food, and we keep loosening up our belt. A promotion. A privilege. A friendship. A gift. A lifetime of grace. An eternity of joy. The Psalmist said, “You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup fills with blessing” (Psalm 23:5 MSG).

And then there are those days when, well, we have to eat our broccoli. Our daily bread could be tears or sorrow or discipline. Our portion may include adversity as well as opportunity.

So the next time your plate has more broccoli than apple pie, just remember who prepared the meal. Even Jesus was given a portion he found hard to swallow. But with God’s help, he did. And with God’s help, you can too.

Isaiah 8

Then God told me, “Get a big sheet of paper and write in indelible ink, ‘This belongs to Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Spoil-Speeds-Plunder-Hurries).’ ”

2–3  I got two honest men, Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah, to witness the document. Then I went home to my wife, the prophetess. She conceived and gave birth to a son.

3–4  God told me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Before that baby says ‘Daddy’ or ‘Mamma’ the king of Assyria will have plundered the wealth of Damascus and the riches of Samaria.”

5–8  God spoke to me again, saying:

“Because this people has turned its back

on the gently flowing stream of Shiloah

And gotten all excited over Rezin

and the son of Remaliah,

I’m stepping in and facing them with

the wild floodwaters of the Euphrates,

The king of Assyria and all his fanfare,

a river in flood, bursting its banks,

Pouring into Judah, sweeping everything before it,

water up to your necks,

A huge wingspan of a raging river,

O Immanuel, spreading across your land.”

9–10  But face the facts, all you oppressors, and then wring your hands.

Listen, all of you, far and near.

Prepare for the worst and wring your hands.

Yes, prepare for the worst and wring your hands!

Plan and plot all you want—nothing will come of it.

All your talk is mere talk, empty words,

Because when all is said and done,

the last word is Immanuel—God-With-Us.

A Boulder Blocking Your Way

11–15  God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said:

“Don’t be like this people,

always afraid somebody is plotting against them.

Don’t fear what they fear.

Don’t take on their worries.

If you’re going to worry,

worry about The Holy. Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

The Holy can be either a Hiding Place

or a Boulder blocking your way,

The Rock standing in the willful way

of both houses of Israel,

A barbed-wire Fence preventing trespass

to the citizens of Jerusalem.

Many of them are going to run into that Rock

and get their bones broken,

Get tangled up in that barbed wire

and not get free of it.”

16–18  Gather up the testimony,

preserve the teaching for my followers,

While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding,

while I wait and hope for him.

I stand my ground and hope,

I and the children God gave me as signs to Israel,

Warning signs and hope signs from God-of-the-Angel-Armies,

who makes his home in Mount Zion.

19–22  When people tell you, “Try out the fortunetellers.

Consult the spiritualists.

Why not tap into the spirit-world,

get in touch with the dead?”

Tell them, “No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.”

People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end!

Frustrated and famished,

they try one thing after another.

When nothing works out they get angry,

cursing first this god and then that one,

Looking this way and that,

up, down, and sideways—and seeing nothing,

A blank wall, an empty hole.

They end up in the dark with nothing.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Monday, November 13, 2023

Today's Scripture

2 Kings 20:1–7

Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz paid him a visit and said, “Put your affairs in order; you’re about to die—you haven’t long to live.”

2–3  Hezekiah turned from Isaiah and faced God, praying:

Remember, O God, who I am, what I’ve done!

I’ve lived an honest life before you,

My heart’s been true and steady,

I’ve lived to please you; lived for your approval.

And then the tears flowed. Hezekiah wept.

4–6  Isaiah, leaving, was not halfway across the courtyard when the word of God stopped him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, prince of my people, ‘God’s word, Hezekiah! From the God of your ancestor David: I’ve listened to your prayer and I’ve observed your tears. I’m going to heal you. In three days you will walk on your own legs into The Temple of God. I’ve just added fifteen years to your life; I’m saving you from the king of Assyria, and I’m covering this city with my shield—for my sake and my servant David’s sake.’ ”

7  Isaiah then said, “Prepare a plaster of figs.”

They prepared the plaster, applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah was on his way to recovery.

Insight

Hezekiah’s father was the wicked King Ahaz. But Hezekiah, who reigned for twenty-nine years, is generally considered to have been one of the good kings of Judah (the Southern Kingdom during the divided kingdom era). He enacted important religious reforms, including reopening the temple of Solomon (2 Chronicles 29:3), ordering the removal of idols throughout his kingdom (vv. 5, 15–17), and warning his people not to abandon the true God (vv. 6–11). Idolatry ceased not only in the kingdom of Judah but also in many areas in the kingdom of Israel. Although Hezekiah was one of the “good” kings of Judah, his son Manasseh, who succeeded him, was one of the worst kings of the Southern Kingdom (2 Kings 21:1, 6). By: Bill Crowder

A Card and Prayer

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. 2 Kings 20:2

The recently widowed woman was growing concerned. To collect some vital funds from an insurance policy, she needed key information about the accident that had taken her husband’s life. She had talked to a police officer who said he’d help her, but then she lost his business card. So she prayed, pleading with God for help. A short time later, she was at her church when she walked by a window and saw a card—the policeman’s card—on a windowsill. She had no idea how it got there, but she knew why.

She took prayer seriously. And why not? Scripture says that God is listening for our requests. “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,” Peter wrote, “and his ears are attentive to their prayer” (1 Peter 3:12).

The Bible gives us examples of how God responded to prayer. One is Hezekiah, the king of Judah, who became ill. He’d even received word from Isaiah, a prophet, saying he was going to die. The king knew what to do: he “prayed to the Lord” (2 Kings 20:2). Immediately, God told Isaiah to give the king this message from Him: “I have heard your prayer” (v. 5). Hezekiah was granted fifteen more years of life.

God doesn’t always answer prayers with things like a card on a windowsill, but He assures us that when difficult situations arise, we don’t face them alone. God sees us, and He’s with us—attentive to our prayers.

By:  Dave Branon

Reflect & Pray

What tops your list of concerns? How can you give them to God, asking for His guidance and help?

Father, thank You for being there and hearing my prayers.

For further study, read My Soul in Silence: Learning How to Pray.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Monday, November 13, 2023

Faith or Experience?

…the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. —Galatians 2:20

We should battle through our moods, feelings, and emotions into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus. We must break out of our own little world of experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meagerness of the miserable faith we exhibit by saying, “I haven’t had this experience or that experience”! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims and provides— He can present us faultless before the throne of God, inexpressibly pure, absolutely righteous, and profoundly justified. Stand in absolute adoring faith “in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God— and righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30). How dare we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!

We must continually focus and firmly place our faith in Jesus Christ— not a “prayer meeting” Jesus Christ, or a “book” Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, who is God Incarnate, and who ought to strike us dead at His feet. Our faith must be in the One from whom our salvation springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute, unrestrained devotion to Himself. We can never experience Jesus Christ, or selfishly bind Him in the confines of our own hearts. Our faith must be built on strong determined confidence in Him.

It is because of our trusting in experience that we see the steadfast impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All of our fears are sinful, and we create our own fears by refusing to nourish ourselves in our faith. How can anyone who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! Our lives should be an absolute hymn of praise resulting from perfect, irrepressible, triumphant belief.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The fiery furnaces are there by God’s direct permission. It is misleading to imagine that we are developed in spite of our circumstances; we are developed because of them. It is mastery in circumstances that is needed, not mastery over them. The Love of God—The Message of Invincible Consolation, 674 R

Bible in a Year: Lamentations 1-2; Hebrews 10:1-18

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

Monday, November 13, 2023

A Father to Run With You - #9612

A Father to Run With You - #9612

Many of the world's greatest dramas are not on a stage or a screen. They're played out in that quadrennial spectacle we call the Olympics. Maybe you remember the year, many years ago now really, that Britain's representative in the 400-meter race, Derrick Redman, began to falter and went down in the back stretch with a torn right hamstring. As the medical attendants were approaching, Derrick Redman was fighting his way to his feet. Now, he's limping along in anguish. Hopping, desperately trying to finish the race. He knew he wouldn't win; he was just trying to finish.

If you remember this at all, he reached that final stretch. And as he did, a large man in a tee-shirt forced his way out of the stands, ran up to Derrick and hugged him. That big man was Jim Redman, Derrick's Father. And he said to him, "Son, you don't have to do this." Gritting his teeth, with tears in his eyes, his son said, "Yes, I do." His Father said, "Then we're going to finish this together." And Derrick's head was literally buried in his Father's shoulder, but he stayed in his lane to the end. And when they crossed the finish line, the crowd who had been stunned at first, stood to their feet. They cheered, they wept, and they watched those two men finish that race together.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Father to Run With You."

Our word for today from the Word of God is a simple statement from Deuteronomy 1:30. It says this: "The Lord your God carried you as a Father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." Maybe today finds you very tired, stressed out. And like that 400-meter runner in the Olympics you're staggering right now. You're having a hard time finishing your race.

You started well. You've been running real hard, but you're about to go down. Maybe you've been hit by discouragement, or illness, you've got family trouble, a lack of support. Or maybe there's just obstacles. You're just hurting and there's a lot more race ahead of you.

Well, God wants to give you the good news that someone has left the stands to help you, and He's coming to the track to get you the rest of the way. It is your Father. It's your Heavenly Father. First, God left the stands to come to a cross, and there He rescued us from the sin wound that would have kept us forever from reaching heaven.

There's a rich promise here that when you're in the desert and you can't go on, your resources are dried up, you say, "Daddy, I can't go any farther." Then He says, "Then I will carry you." Right now, let's be honest. You're not going to make it alone. But today there is an all-powerful Father who is offering to carry you. But you've got to let Him. If you're too proud to collapse in His arms, surrender to His control, then your power is limited. You're not going to make it.

But if you will totally release the control and in the words of the Bible, "humble yourself" you will have all of your Father's power. Each of us reaches days when we just don't have any more to give. Maybe you're there right now. It's those moments in the race that can take you deeper into the love and the power of Jesus than you've ever been before. Your Father is not a spectator in the stands today. His arm is around you right now where you are.

And it could be you have never established your own personal relationship with God as your Father made possible by the death of His Son, Jesus, on that cross for the sin that has separated you from God for a lifetime, and will separate you forever unless that wall comes down. He's come down. He's come down to a cross; all the way down to die and to pay for you. That's how much He loves you. You don't have to do life alone any more - never again.

You've spent your last day alone if this day you will invite this Jesus to be your Savior from your sin. Listen, we've set up our website to help you begin to belong to Him today. I hope you'll go there. It's ANewStory.com. I'm telling you, the voice of God is saying to you today, "You're not doing this alone. From now on we'll finish this race together."

Isaiah 7, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily:  Your God-Given Prayer Strength

Before you say amen-comes the power of a simple prayer! A prayer that says, "Father I need your power in my life. I face impossible circumstances and am desperate for a miracle. Would you show me your power in my life today? God, for those who have a small view of you, help them to find comfort in the knowledge of how mighty and enormous you actually are. Thank you for sending your Son. It's in the all-powerful name of Jesus that I pray, amen."

Here's my invitation to you today! Release that prayer wimp self-image you have and discover confidence in your God-given prayer strength. Sign on at BeforeAmen.com-take the brief Prayer Strengths Assessment. It'll not only encourage you-it'll give you a simple building block for your growth in prayer!

Before Amen

Isaiah 7

A Virgin Will Bear a Son

1–2  7 During the time that Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel attacked Jerusalem, but the attack sputtered out. When the Davidic government learned that Aram had joined forces with Ephraim (that is, Israel), Ahaz and his people were badly shaken. They shook like trees in the wind.

3–6  Then God told Isaiah, “Go and meet Ahaz. Take your son Shear-jashub (A-Remnant-Will-Return) with you. Meet him south of the city at the end of the aqueduct where it empties into the upper pool on the road to the public laundry. Tell him, Listen, calm down. Don’t be afraid. And don’t panic over these two burnt-out cases, Rezin of Aram and the son of Remaliah. They talk big but there’s nothing to them. Aram, along with Ephraim’s son of Remaliah, have plotted to do you harm. They’ve conspired against you, saying, ‘Let’s go to war against Judah, dismember it, take it for ourselves, and set the son of Tabeel up as a puppet king over it.’

7–9  But God, the Master, says,

“It won’t happen.

Nothing will come of it

Because the capital of Aram is Damascus

and the king of Damascus is a mere man, Rezin.

As for Ephraim, in sixty-five years

it will be rubble, nothing left of it.

The capital of Ephraim is Samaria,

and the king of Samaria is the mere son of Remaliah.

If you don’t take your stand in faith,

you won’t have a leg to stand on.”

10–11  God spoke again to Ahaz. This time he said, “Ask for a sign from your God. Ask anything. Be extravagant. Ask for the moon!”

12  But Ahaz said, “I’d never do that. I’d never make demands like that on God!”

13–17  So Isaiah told him, “Then listen to this, government of David! It’s bad enough that you make people tired with your pious, timid hypocrisies, but now you’re making God tired. So the Master is going to give you a sign anyway. Watch for this: A girl who is presently a virgin will get pregnant. She’ll bear a son and name him Immanuel (God-With-Us). By the time the child is twelve years old, able to make moral decisions, the threat of war will be over. Relax, those two kings that have you so worried will be out of the picture. But also be warned: God will bring on you and your people and your government a judgment worse than anything since the time the kingdom split, when Ephraim left Judah. The king of Assyria is coming!”

18–19  That’s when God will whistle for the flies at the headwaters of Egypt’s Nile, and whistle for the bees in the land of Assyria. They’ll come and infest every nook and cranny of this country. There’ll be no getting away from them.

20  And that’s when the Master will take the razor rented from across the Euphrates—the king of Assyria no less!—and shave the hair off your heads and genitals, leaving you shamed, exposed, and denuded. He’ll shave off your beards while he’s at it.

21–22  It will be a time when survivors will count themselves lucky to have a cow and a couple of sheep. At least they’ll have plenty of milk! Whoever’s left in the land will learn to make do with the simplest foods—curds, whey, and honey.

23–25  But that’s not the end of it. This country that used to be covered with fine vineyards—thousands of them, worth millions!—will revert to a weed patch. Weeds and thornbushes everywhere! Good for nothing except, perhaps, hunting rabbits. Cattle and sheep will forage as best they can in the fields of weeds—but there won’t be a trace of all those fertile and well-tended gardens and fields.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Sunday, November 12, 2023

Today's Scripture

Matthew 9:18–22

Just a Touch

18–19  As he finished saying this, a local official appeared, bowed politely, and said, “My daughter has just now died. If you come and touch her, she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, his disciples following along.

20–22  Just then a woman who had hemorrhaged for twelve years slipped in from behind and lightly touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can just put a finger on his robe, I’ll get well.” Jesus turned—caught her at it. Then he reassured her: “Courage, daughter. You took a risk of faith, and now you’re well.” The woman was well from then on.

Insight

The account of the woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years is told in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 9, Mark 5, and Luke 8). Matthew’s telling is the briefest of the three. Despite the differing details, one element shared by all three is the essence of Jesus’ parting words to the woman: “your faith has healed you” (Matthew 9:22; Mark 5:34; Luke 8:48). It’s important to note that this faith wasn’t simply the belief that Christ could heal her (although that belief is also stated in all three gospels). Her faith caused her to act. It propelled her through the crowd to reach out and touch Jesus’ cloak. This is how James talks about faith. Faith is demonstrated by what it does, not what it claims to believe (see James 2:14–26). By: J.R. Hudberg

Cling to Jesus

She said to herself, “If I only touch [Jesus’] cloak, I will be healed.” Matthew 9:21

Dizziness struck me in the stairwell of the office building. Overwhelmed, I gripped the banister because the stairs seemed to spin. As my heart pounded and my legs buckled, I clung onto the banister, thankful for its strength. Medical tests showed I had anemia. Although its cause wasn’t serious and my condition was resolved, I’ll never forget how weak I felt that day.

That’s why I admire the woman who touched Jesus. She not only moved through the crowd in her weakened state, but she also showed faith in venturing out to approach Him (Matthew 9:20–22). She had good reason to be afraid: Jewish law defined her as unclean and by exposing others to her uncleanness, she could face serious consequences (Leviticus 15:25-27). But the thought If I only touch His cloak kept her going. The Greek word that’s translated as “touch” in Matthew 9:21 is not mere touching but has the stronger meaning of “to hold on to” or “to attach oneself.” The woman tightly held on to Jesus. She believed He could heal her.

Jesus saw, in the midst of a crowd, the desperate faith of one woman. When we too venture out in faith and cling to Christ in our need, He welcomes us and comes to our aid. We can tell Him our story without fear of rejection or punishment. Jesus tells us today, “Cling to Me.” By:  Karen Huang

Reflect & Pray

What’s caused you suffering and fear? To what or whom have you turned for help and healing? How can you cling to Jesus today?

Dear God, thank You for Your love. I don’t have to feel ashamed and afraid. You accept me and call me Your child.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Sunday, November 12, 2023

The Changed Life

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. —2 Corinthians 5:17

What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. And when a crisis comes, you are the most amazed person on earth at the wonderful difference there is in you. There is no possibility of imagining that you did it. It is this complete and amazing change that is the very evidence that you are saved.

What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? For instance, can I stand in the light of 1 Corinthians 13 , or do I squirm and evade the issue? True salvation, worked out in me by the Holy Spirit, frees me completely. And as long as I “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7), God sees nothing to rebuke because His life is working itself into every detailed part of my being, not on the conscious level, but even deeper than my consciousness.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

No one could have had a more sensitive love in human relationship than Jesus; and yet He says there are times when love to father and mother must be hatred in comparison to our love for Him.   So Send I You, 1301 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 51-52; Hebrews 9

Acts 20:1-16, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: God’s Goal is Wholeness

Afflictions can sideline the sufferer. Everyone else has a place in the parade. You’d join them if only the tumor would stop growing. You have mood swings as wide and wild as the African Serengeti. And you’ve wondered, “What am I do to with this ailment?”

The blind and the suffering brought their concerns to Jesus. They didn’t ask for Peter or John. They made no request of the disciples or followers. They went straight to the top. They cried out to Jesus. Persistently, personally, passionately. “I need help. Heal me!” You need to do the same. God’s goal for you is wholeness. Your whole self—spirit, soul, and body!

Before you say amen—comes the power of a simple prayer! Sign on at BeforeAmen.com and take the brief Prayer Strengths Assessment.

From Before Amen

Acts 20:1-16

Macedonia and Greece

1–2  20 With things back to normal, Paul called the disciples together and encouraged them to keep up the good work in Ephesus. Then, saying his good-byes, he left for Macedonia. Traveling through the country, passing from one gathering to another, he gave constant encouragement, lifting their spirits and charging them with fresh hope.

2–4  Then he came to Greece and stayed on for three months. Just as he was about to sail for Syria, the Jews cooked up a plot against him. So he went the other way, by land back through Macedonia, and gave them the slip. His companions for the journey were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus, from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, both Thessalonians; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and the two from western Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.

5–6  They went on ahead and waited for us in Troas. Meanwhile, we stayed in Philippi for Passover Week, and then set sail. Within five days we were again in Troas and stayed a week.

7–9  We met on Sunday to worship and celebrate the Master’s Supper. Paul addressed the congregation. Our plan was to leave first thing in the morning, but Paul talked on, way past midnight. We were meeting in a well-lighted upper room. A young man named Eutychus was sitting in an open window. As Paul went on and on, Eutychus fell sound asleep and toppled out the third-story window. When they picked him up, he was dead.

10–12  Paul went down, stretched himself on him, and hugged him hard. “No more crying,” he said. “There’s life in him yet.” Then Paul got up and served the Master’s Supper. And went on telling stories of the faith until dawn! On that note, they left—Paul going one way, the congregation another, leading the boy off alive, and full of life themselves.

13–16  In the meantime, the rest of us had gone on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we planned to pick up Paul. Paul wanted to walk there, and so had made these arrangements earlier. Things went according to plan: We met him in Assos, took him on board, and sailed to Mitylene. The next day we put in opposite Chios, Samos a day later, and then Miletus. Paul had decided to bypass Ephesus so that he wouldn’t be held up in Asia province. He was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem in time for the Feast of Pentecost, if at all possible.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Today's Scripture

1 Samuel 4:1–11

The Chest of God Is Taken

1–3  4 Whatever Samuel said was broadcast all through Israel. Israel went to war against the Philistines. Israel set up camp at Ebenezer, the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistines marched out to meet Israel, the fighting spread, and Israel was badly beaten—about four thousand soldiers left dead on the field. When the troops returned to camp, Israel’s elders said, “Why has God given us such a beating today by the Philistines? Let’s go to Shiloh and get the Chest of God’s Covenant. It will accompany us and save us from the grip of our enemies.”

4  So the army sent orders to Shiloh. They brought the Chest of the Covenant of God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the Cherubim-Enthroned-God. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, accompanied the Chest of the Covenant of God.

5–6  When the Chest of the Covenant of God was brought into camp, everyone gave a huge cheer. The shouts were like thunderclaps shaking the very ground. The Philistines heard the shouting and wondered what on earth was going on: “What’s all this shouting among the Hebrews?”

6–9  Then they learned that the Chest of God had entered the Hebrew camp. The Philistines panicked: “Their gods have come to their camp! Nothing like this has ever happened before. We’re done for! Who can save us from the clutches of these supergods? These are the same gods who hit the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues out in the wilderness. On your feet, Philistines! Courage! We’re about to become slaves to the Hebrews, just as they have been slaves to us. Show what you’re made of! Fight for your lives!”

10–11  And did they ever fight! It turned into a rout. They thrashed Israel so mercilessly that the Israelite soldiers ran for their lives, leaving behind an incredible thirty thousand dead. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Chest of God was taken and the two sons of Eli—Hophni and Phinehas—were killed.

Insight

It’s not surprising the Philistines didn’t know much about God. But it is surprising that the Israelites also demonstrated little knowledge of Him (1 Samuel 4:1–11). The Philistines had heard of God’s greatness but misunderstood it. They recalled the plagues He used to free Israel from Egypt more than three hundred years earlier but remembered them as taking place in the wilderness, not in Egypt, and attributed God’s power to “mighty gods” (v. 8). Israel mistakenly thought the ark’s presence meant the presence of God Himself (v. 3). They were seeking military success instead of seeking the One who brings that success. By: Tim Gustafson

Lucky Boots

I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another. Isaiah 42:8

Too late, Tom felt the chilling “click” beneath his combat boots. Instinctively, he bounded away in an adrenaline-fueled leap. The deadly device hidden underground didn’t detonate. Later, the explosive ordnance disposal team unearthed eighty pounds of high explosives from the spot. Tom wore those boots until they fell apart. “My lucky boots,” he calls them.

Tom may have clung to those boots simply to commemorate his close call. But people are often tempted to consider objects “lucky” or to even give them the more spiritual label “blessed.” Danger arrives when we credit an object—even a symbol—as a source of God’s blessing.

The Israelites learned this the hard way. The Philistine army had just routed them in battle. As Israel reviewed the debacle, someone thought of taking the “ark of the Lord's covenant” into a rematch (1 Samuel 4:3). That seemed like a good idea (vv. 6–9). After all, the ark of the covenant was a holy object.

But the Israelites had the wrong perspective. By itself, the ark couldn’t bring them anything. Putting their faith in an object instead of in the presence of the one true God, the Israelites suffered an even worse defeat, and the enemy captured the ark (vv. 10–11).

Mementos that remind us to pray or to thank God for His goodness are fine. But they’re never the source of blessing. That is God—and God alone. By:  Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray

How do you show evidence of your faith in God? When you’re faced with a crisis, what do you focus on to help you?

Loving Father, forgive me when I’m tempted to put my faith in anything but You.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers

Saturday, November 11, 2023

The Supreme Climb

He said, "Take now your son…" —Genesis 22:2

God’s command is, “Take now,” not later. It is incredible how we debate! We know something is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it immediately. If we are to climb to the height God reveals, it can never be done later— it must be done now. And the sacrifice must be worked through our will before we actually perform it.

“So Abraham rose early in the morning…and went to the place of which God had told him” (Genesis 22:3). Oh, the wonderful simplicity of Abraham! When God spoke, he did not “confer with flesh and blood” (Galatians 1:16). Beware when you want to “confer with flesh and blood” or even your own thoughts, insights, or understandings— anything that is not based on your personal relationship with God. These are all things that compete with and hinder obedience to God.

Abraham did not choose what the sacrifice would be. Always guard against self-chosen service for God. Self-sacrifice may be a disease that impairs your service. If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; or even if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential will of God means a hard and difficult time for you, go through it. But never decide the place of your own martyrdom, as if to say, “I will only go to there, but no farther.” God chose the test for Abraham, and Abraham neither delayed nor protested, but steadily obeyed. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. You must go through the trial before you have any right to pronounce a verdict, because by going through the trial you learn to know God better. God is working in us to reach His highest goals until His purpose and our purpose become one.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else. “Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord”;…  The Highest Good—The Pilgrim’s Song Book, 537 L

Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 50; Hebrews 8